Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.

In March, the Legislature was set to raise every S.C. teacher’s pay by $3,000, pour tens of millions of dollars into textbooks, and school buses, and even maintenance and renovations in poor districts. It was about to follow through at long last on two-decade-old promises to provide full-day…

Across South Carolina and our nation, physicians are upholding the values of the Hippocratic oath, tirelessly working alongside nurses and other health care workers “to help the sick,” heroically risking their own health and safety to treat patients suffering from COVID-19. According to the …

Sunday’s editorial warning that the pandemic could “kill top reforms” raised important concerns about education in South Carolina. But there’s a crucial part of education that I fear is slipping through the cracks because we don’t think about it enough: early childhood education and child care.

People of all cultures are hurt, tired and provoked by the unjust killings of black men by white police officers. This recent killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minnesota is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and we are angry.

Policing an urban environment is significantly different than any other type of law enforcement challenge. A city police force and a police chief must earn and maintain the trust and confidence of the community members they serve. The department is the face of local government, and in the mi…

Walter Scott (2015), George Floyd (2020) and Sean Bell (2006). These are just a few of the names of African Americans who have died as a result of a long-standing and complicated history between police and the African American community, particularly with black men.

All over Charleston, citizens are suddenly being jolted by the sounds of chainsaws cutting the trees in front of their house. There are big, burly men with big trucks butchering the trees, and if homeowners challenge them, they often are rudely dismissed and told that Dominion Energy has an …

The chairman of the state Republican Party threw a bit of a fit on Friday about our editorial on the misleading question on the GOP primary ballot, firing off a blast-email complaining that a “Post and Courier Editorial Encourages Democrats to Vote in the Republican Primary.” (Funny; he didn…

As South Carolina prepares to emerge from a three-month crash course with statewide online learning, the South Carolina School Boards Association asked local school board members from across the state to share their views on how their districts fared this spring and what they hope to see as …

Unless there’s an epic spike in coronavirus deaths over the summer, South Carolina public schools will reopen this fall. Nobody’s exactly sure what that will look like yet, but one thing’s for certain: Parents won’t be happy, and a good number of them will blame their local school board.

We were disappointed to read the editorial staff’s recommendation that pandemic unemployment insurance benefits not be extended beyond July 31. This benefit provides the unemployed worker with an additional $600 a week during these very difficult times.

Over the past two months, our community has experienced what we hope is a once in a lifetime crisis. The cost to health and human life has been devastating. The economic toll has been severe and has further widened inequalities already present.

As a former solicitor and deputy solicitor for the 5th Circuit (Richland and Kershaw counties), I was somewhat startled to read the newspaper’s editorial repeating S.C. Supreme Court Justice John Few’s concurring opinion in State v. Quinn referring to Solicitor David Pascoe’s handling of the…

The Senate recently overwhelmingly passed legislation to bar Chinese companies from listing on U.S. stock exchanges unless they take more aggressive steps to confront rampant fraud and Chinese government control. The legislation was bipartisan, sponsored by Sens. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, a…

At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, as everyone was just beginning to grasp the impacts it would have on our daily lives, I stumbled upon an old Fred Rogers quote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things on the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will al…

Memorial Day is a day to honor the men and women who died in combat while serving in our nation's armed forces. This Memorial Day, as we also observe the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, is an appropriate time to reflect on William B. Rice of Charleston, who made the supreme sacr…

As we pause on the solemn occasion of Memorial Day, we find ourselves in a world we couldn’t have imagined a few months ago, much less a year ago. It’s a world filled with tragedy, uncertainty and gnawing worry about a virus we don’t fully understand.

It was 2009, the nation was mired in what would become known as the Great Recession, tax revenues were plummeting, and states were about to start laying off teachers, corrections officers, Highway Patrol troopers and other employees, driving the unemployment rate even higher, when the Congre…

Many are still learning about the initial plan for building a $1.75 billion wall around much of Charleston’s historic peninsula to minimize damage from future storms, but most already would agree that if it’s built, it should be beautiful.

Legitimate concerns about businesses being held liable for the consequences of COVID-19 exposure in their facilities have led to strong interest in Congress, particularly among Republicans, to include liability protection in the next COVID-related bill. Public health officials, most medical …

Foundations, United Ways and nonprofit organizations across the state are an important way community helps community. Where government is often rigid and fixed, philanthropic and charitable organizations can move quickly in times of emergency.

There is a good reason that Congress has such a low approval rating. Many Americans believe that the bigger the check, the more influence a corporation or person can have on a politician. When citizens sense corporations have the ear of politicians, when the everyday Joe believes he has no v…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began tearing through the United States, we’ve heard a lot about overloaded systems and the people who are suffering as a result. We’ve heard about our overwhelmed hospitals and the doctors on hospital front lines. We’ve heard about aging Americans and the profess…

As Gov. Henry McMaster, accelerateSC and leaders across our beloved state continue to tackle the daunting task of reopening and rebuilding our economy, we and the Together SC network of nonprofit leaders and their allies urge that they make equity a top priority.